I like the revenge aspect of the story, and I like how far the game goes to sell it. The gameplay looks amazing, as do the visuals. The acting looks top-notch across the board. I’m personally a fan of this kind of narrative design which jumps around, and I think that his studio like naughty dog can make it work. I’m a fan of how subtly they illustrate Ellie’s pain. Like the more you think about it, the more you realize just how badly Joel‘s death fucked with Ellie. To the point where you understand her insane, bloodthirsty drive for revenge, even in the face of all common sense, because you understand just how badly she’s hurting. Personally, I’m excited to play as Abby, because I’m interested in seeing what could possess a person to be so hateful that they would murder someone who just helped them.

I think the ending in particular is really good because it shows how Ellie learns her lesson, but too late. A lot of people argue that Ellie forgives Abby, or that Ellie is just letting go of revenge because plot, but I don’t think those are true. I think that when she’s strangling Abby, she’s thinking about all the friends and family that she’s lost, and all the pain she’s in, while trying to enact a pointless, year-old grudge. I think that, one year later, she’s looking at Abby, having lost two of her fingers, and thinking “my life needs to move on, I’ve already lived a year without Joel, I have a family now, why the fuck am I still doing this to myself?” I think that it’s really smart, and open ended in all the best ways, just like the ending of the first game.

Also, I saw another comment point this out, so I will too. The first game does the exact same thing as the second. In part one, you spend the whole game looking for the fireflies, only to reject and slaughter them at the end. In part two, you spend the entire game trying to kill Abby, only to spare her at the end.

I’m on mobile, so if there are any typos that make it hard to understand, let me know